Carriage assembly with components molded to a carriage body

ABSTRACT

This invention includes a carriage assembly for carrying read/write heads into engagement with a recording medium. The carriage assembly comprises a carriage body formed from molded plastic. The body defines a sidewall having a first open end and a second open end with a passage extending therebetween. A coil is interlockingly coupled with the carriage body sidewall by being molded to carriage body. At least one carriage arm for carrying at least one head is interlockingly coupled with the carriage body sidewall by being molded to the carriage body.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is related to the following patent applicationsall of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety:

Ser. No. 08/866,189, filed on May 30, 1997, entitled "An ImprovedOperating System For Operating An Eject System And A Head RetractionSystem Of A Disk Drive";

Ser. No. 08/881,804, filed on May 30, 1997, entitled "Media Capture toPrevent Head Damage In A Removable Cartridge Disk Drive";

Ser. No. 08/866,225, filed on May 30, 1997, entitled "An Improved HeadRetraction System for Retracting The Heads Of A Disk Drive";

Ser. No. 08/881,803, filed on May 30, 1997, entitled "Steering MagnetsTo Reduce Magnetic Leakage Flux In A Disk Drive";

Ser. No. 08/881,805, filed on May 30, 1997, entitled "Laminated SteelReturn Path With Actuator Support Features";

Ser. No. 08/866,190, filed on May 30, 1997, entitled "Dual Loop FlexCircuit For A Linear Actuator";

Ser. No. 08/881,806, filed on May 30, 1997, entitled "Head GimbalProtection For A Disk Drive";

Ser. No. 08/866,168, filed on May 30, 1997, entitled "Flexured MountingSystem For Friction Reduction And Friction Linearization In LinearActuator For Disk Drive";

Ser. No. 08/881,807, filed on May 30, 1997, entitled "Return PathGeometry to Enhance Uniformity Of Force On A Linear Actuator";

Ser. No. 08/886,180, filed on May 30, 1997, entitled "In-Rigger For ALinear Actuator Carriage Assembly";

Ser. No. 08/866,171, filed on May 30, 1997, entitled "Integral Lift WingFor A Disk Drive Actuator";

Ser. No. 08/866,227, filed on May 30, 1997, entitled "Head Protection InA Disk Drive";

Ser. No. 08/866,167, filed on May 30, 1997, entitled "Self-PositioningLever For Opening The Shutter Of A Removable Disk Cartridge";

Ser. No. 08/866,177, filed on May 30, 1997, entitled "Motor LoadingSystem For A Disk Drive";

Ser. No. 08/866,226, filed on May 30, 1997, entitled "An Improved EjectSystem For Ejecting A Disk Cartridge From A Disk Drive";

Ser. No. 08/881,808, filed on May 30, 1997, entitled "Cover For A DiskDrive".

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is related to linear actuators for carryingread/write heads into engagement with a recording medium, and, moreparticularly, to a carriage assembly employed for mounting read/writeheads.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Disk drives for storing electronic information are found in a widevariety of computer systems, including workstations, personal computers,and laptop and notebook computers. Such disk drives can be stand-aloneunits that are connected to a computer system by cable, or they can beinternal units that occupy a slot, or bay, in the computer system.Laptop and notebook computers have relatively small bays in which tomount internal disk drives and other peripheral devices, as compared tothe much larger bays available in most workstation and personal computerhousings. The relatively small size of peripheral bays found in laptopand notebook computers, can place significant constraints on thedesigner of internal disk drives for use in such computers. Techniquesthat address and overcome the problems associated with these sizeconstraints are therefore important.

Disk drives of the type that accept removable disk cartridges havebecome increasingly popular. FIG. 1 shows one disk drive product, knownas the ZIP™ drive, that has been very successful. This disk drive isdesigned and manufactured by Iomega Corporation, the assignee of thepresent invention. ZIP™ drives accept removable disk cartridges thatcontain a flexible magnetic storage medium upon which information can bewritten and read. The diskshaped storage medium is mounted on a hub thatrotates freely within the cartridge. A spindle motor within the ZIP™drive engages the cartridge hub when the cartridge is inserted into thedrive, in order to rotate the storage medium at relatively high speeds.A shutter on the front edge of the cartridge is moved to the side duringinsertion into the drive, thereby exposing an opening through which theread/write heads of the drive move to access the recording surfaces ofthe rotating storage medium. The shutter covers the head access openingwhen the cartridge is outside of the drive, to prevent dust and othercontaminants from entering the cartridge and settling on the recordingsurfaces of the storage medium.

The ZIP™ drive is presently available for workstations and personalcomputers in both stand-alone and internal configurations. In order toprovide a version of the ZIP™ drive for use in laptop and notebookcomputers, the size constraints of the peripheral bays of such computersmust be considered. In particular, for an internal drive to fit in themajority of laptop and notebook peripheral bays, the drive must be nolonger than 135 mm. The height of the drive must be in the range of 12to 15 mm. These dimensions place many constraints on the design of sucha drive, and give rise to numerous design problems.

FIG. 1 shows a carriage assembly that is employed in the ZIP™ anddisclosed in Ser. No. 08/727,128, entitled Actuator For Storage Device,filed on Oct. 8, 1996 and hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety. The ZIP™ drive carriage assembly 10 comprises a main carriage12, carriage arms 20, load beams 24, write/read heads 26, voice coil 16,an outrigger 18 and outrigger guide track 46. The carriage arms 20 areformed with the main carriage 12. Each carriage arm 20 is mechanicallycoupled to a corresponding load beam 24. Each head 26 is mechanicallycoupled to a corresponding load beam 24.

The carriage 12 comprises an elongated sidewall 28 that defines twoopposing open ends 30 and 32 with a passage 34 extending therebetween.The open ends 30 and 32 are adapted to receive cylindrical bushings 36and 38. The passage 34, open ends 30 and 32, and bushings 36 and 38 areadapted to slidingly receive a guide track (not shown).

The coil 16 is mounted to the carriage 12 by adhesives or other bondingmethods. The outrigger 18 is mounted to a portion of the coil 16 andtravels along the outrigger guide track 46 to prevent rotation of thecarriage assembly 10 when the carriage assembly is in operation. Most ofthe components described above are coupled to one another by individualconnecting steps, such as with adhesives and bonding methods. There areseveral drawbacks with having to attach these components individually.

One drawback with this carriage assembly is that each component must beindividual attached within close tolerances to form the carriageassembly. These tolerance, however, require nearly exact precision whichis relativley difficult to obtain. It would, therefore, be desirable toprovide a carriage assembly that substantially meets the requiredtolerance more exactly and easily.

Another drawback this type of carriage assembly is that it is relativelylarge and, therefore, cannot be employed in smaller electronicenvironments. It would therefore be desirable to provide a carriageassembly that can be employed in smaller electronic environments.

Yet another drawback of this type of carriage assembly is that itcontains a relatively large number of components that must be designed,attached, and accounted for. It would therefore be desirable to reducethe number of components that comprise a carriage assembly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, a carriage assembly forcarrying read/write heads into engagement with a recording medium isprovided. The carriage assembly comprises a carriage body. The bodydefines a sidewall having a first open end and a second open end with apassage extending therebetween. A coil is interlockingly coupled withthe carriage body sidewall. At least one carriage arm for carrying atleast one head is interlockingly coupled with the carriage bodysidewall.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a prior art carriage assembly;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of an linear actuatorincorporating a carriage assembly in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an exemplary disk drive incorporatingthe present invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the carriage assembly shown in FIG. 2without all of the operating components coupled thereto;

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of a carriage assembly according to oneaspect of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a rear view of a carriage assembly in accordance with oneaspect of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a carriage arm employed in the carriageassembly shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is an exploded view of a mold assembly employed to produce atleast one embodiment in accordance with one aspect of the presentinvention;

FIG. 8A is a sectional sideview of the mold assembly; and

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an exemplary disk drive in which acarriage assembly in accordance with the present invention may beemployed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of an actuator carriage assembly 52 inaccordance with the present invention.

The actuator carriage assembly comprises a front bearing 54, a voicecoil 56, upper carriage arm 58, lower carriage arm 60, upper load beam62, lower load beam 64, read/write heads 66, center rod or guide track68 having a center axis C-C', an amplifier chip 70, traces 72 for thevoice coil 56, and flex circuits 74 which are coupled to the carriagebody 78.

The guide track 68 is positioned within a passage 76 defined by thecarriage body 78 such that the carriage body 78, voice coil 56, carriagearms 58 and 60, and load beams 62 and 64 are all substantiallysymmetrically centered around and move along the guide track 68.Additionally, the guide track 68 is adapted to ride along the frontbearing 54 and rear bearing (not shown) to linearly direct the carriageassembly. Such symmetrical spacing is advantageous because it aligns thecarriage assembly center of mass and center of force along the guidetrack. Such alignment also minimizes friction and avoids binding forcesand resonance problems.

Although the guide track 68 linearly directs the carriage assembly 52,the carriage assembly 52 remains unrestrained from rotating about theguide track 68. Such rotation causes the carriage assembly 52 to rollabout the center axis, which in turn, adversely affects the accuratepitch of the read/heads 66. This roll can also cause the coil 56 andother components to make contact with the actuator cover 69 (FIG. 3)which is located directly above the voice coil 56. The in-riggers 80 and81 are provided to maintain the desired positioning of the carriageassembly 52 when the assembly is in operation. The in-riggers 80 andcover 69 are discussed in more detail below.

The function and purpose of the traces for the coil 72, amplifier chip70, and flex circuit 74 and how they are coupled to the carriage body 78are discussed in more detail in the following copending patentapplication assigned to the assignee of the present case entitled "DualLoop Flex Circuit For a Linear Actuator, Ser. No. 08/866,190 (Attorney'sDocket No. IOM-9509), filed concurrently herewith and herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIG. 4 shows the carriage assembly in accordance with the presentinvention in more detail. Specifically, the carriage body 78 defines asidewall 82. Preferably, the sidewall 82 has an upper surface 84, bottomsurface 86 having a generally triangular portion 87 adapted to becoupled with the flex circuit, relative front surface 88, relative backsurface 90, and two side surfaces 92 and 94 therebetween. The relativefront surface 88 defines a first open end 96 and the relative backsurface 90 defines a second open end 98. A passage 76 extends betweenthe first open end 96 and second open end 98. Preferably, the carriagebody 78 is made from VECTRA© Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP) a plasticmaterial sold by General Electric, located in Massachusetts.

A first or front bearing 54 is coupled with the sidewall 82 proximatethe first open end 96 and the rear or a second bearing 55 is coupledwith the sidewall proximate the second open end 98. Preferably the frontbearing 54 is interlockingly coupled proximate the first open end withthe side wall 82. Preferably, the first bearing is a sapphire jewelbearing. The preferred rear bearing 55 is described in copending patentapplication assigned to the assignee of the present case entitled"Elongated Rear Bearing For Linear Actuator", Ser. No. 08/866,190(Attorney Docket No. IOM-9510), filed concurrently herewith and herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety. The rear bearing is attachedby a press fit, adhesive or other similar method. The guide track 68 isadapted to be slidingly mounted within the passage 76 and in slidingcooperation with each of the bearings 54 and 55. With the front bearing54 interlockingly coupled with the sidewall, the front bearing 54 ismaintained in its desired operating position without the application ofadhesives or bonding methods.

The carriage assembly 52 comprises at least one carriage arm 58 forcoupling a load beam 62 and at least one read/head 66. Preferably, anupper carriage arm 58 and a lower carriage arm 60 are provided. Eachcarriage arm has a proximal end 100 and distal 102. A portion of theproximal end 100 of each arm 58 and 60 is interlockingly coupled withthe carriage body sidewall 82, front surface 88. The upper carriage arm58 is interlockingly coupled with the sidewall 82 above the first openend 96 in spaced relationship from the lower carriage arm 60 which isinterlockingly coupled within the carriage body sidewall 82 below thefirst open end 96. The distal end 102 of each carriage arm 58 and 60 isadapted to be mechanically coupled with a corresponding load beam 62 and64. The upper 58 and lower 60 carriage arms 58 and 60 are positionedsuch that when the load beams 62 and 64 and read/write heads 66 arecoupled thereto, the heads 66 engage the recording medium at the desiredlocation. With the carriage arms 58 and 60 interlockingly coupled withinthe sidewall, the carriage arms are maintained in their desiredoperating position without the application of adhesives or bondingmethods. The preferred shape and other characteristics of each carriagearm are discussed in more detail below.

The coil 56 is preferably interlockingly coupled along the upper surface84 of the carriage body sidewall 82 between the front surface 88 andback surface 90 of the carriage body sidewall 82. Preferably, the coil56 has a sidewall 57 having a generally rectangular cross-section with arelative outer surface 57a and relative inner surface 57b. In thisposition, the coil 56 provides opposite openings 59a and 59b that areadapted to be in sliding communication with the inner return paths 168aand 168b. With the coil 56 interlockingly coupled with the sidewall, thecoil is maintained in its desired operating position with theapplication of bonding methods or adhesives. Additionally, a subcarriageis not required to couple the coil to the carriage body.

At least one in-rigger 80 in accordance with the present invention iscoupled with the carriage body sidewall 82 such that the carriageassembly 52 is maintained in operating position as the carriage assemblyis manipulated to engage a recording medium. Preferably, two opposingin-riggers 80, 81 are integrally formed with the carriage body sidewall82 and interlockingly coupled with portions of the coil inner surface57b. Preferably, the in-riggers are made of the same material as thecarriage body. With the in-riggers 80, 81 provided in this manner, theneed for an out-rigger and out-rigger guide rail is eliminated and,thereby, conserves space in the carriage assembly and reduces the numberof components that must be accounted for in the carriage assembly. Thein-riggers are discussed in more detail below.

The coil 56 is adapted to be in sliding cooperation with the two innerreturn paths 168a, 168b on opposite sides of the carriage assembly 52(see FIG. 6). Preferably, the in-riggers 80, 81 are adapted to be insliding communication with only one of the inner return paths.

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the carriage assembly, coil, in-rigger,and upper carriage arm. The lower carriage arm and guide track areremoved from this figure for clarity sake. An upper in-rigger 80 andlower in-rigger 81 opposing one another are coupled to the carriage bodysidewall 82. Preferably, each in-rigger 80, 81 is integrally formed withthe carriage body sidewall 82.

Preferably, each in-rigger comprises an elongated member 300 extendinglaterally from carriage body 78. The elongated member 300 has a relativefront portion 302, relative rear portion 304, first end 306 proximatethe carriage body, and an opposing second end 308. The elongated memberalso has a relative outer surface 310 and relative inner surface 312.The length and width of each in-rigger will depend upon the size of thecoil and of the electrical component that is employed.

A protruding portion 314 extends away from the inner surface 312proximate the second end 308 and traverses from the relative frontportion 302 to the relative rear portion 304 of the elongated member300.

Referring to FIG. 6, the protruding portion 314 is adapted to pressinglyor pushingly cooperate with one of the inner return paths 168a when thecarriage assembly is in operation to maintain the desired position ofthe carriage assembly. The outer return paths 166 and rear bearing 55are also shown.

The relative outer surface 310 of each elongated member 300 is adaptedto abuttingly cooperate with the inner surface 57b of the coil 56 whenthe coil is interlockingly coupled with the carriage body sidewall.Preferably, the outer surface 310 of each elongated member issubstantially flat.

It is noted that the in-rigger 80 can be produced separately from thecarriage body and be employed with other carriage assemblies in additionto the specific carriage assembly embodiment discussed herein. Eachin-rigger can be attached to the coil with an adhesive or like attachingmethods. In this alternative embodiment, the dimensions of the in-riggerwill depend upon the actual coil and actuator assembly employed .

Preferably, the in-riggers 80 and 81 are adapted to be in slidingcommunication with only one of the inner return paths. The positioningof the in-riggers 80 and 81 in relationship to the inner return paths168a prevents the coil from rotating and hitting the cover.

FIG. 7 shows the carriage arm 58 in more detail. The carriage arm 58comprises an elongate body 104 having a proximal end 100 and distal end102. The body 104 defines a stiffening bead 106 for strengthening thecarriage arm. Preferably, the bead 106 is a continuous oblong shapedbead. The bead 106 extends between the distal end and proximal end. Theproximal end 100 of the body defines one set of opposing relativelysmall slots 108 and one set of relatively large slots 110. The portionof the body extending between these slots is adapted to be securelyinterlocked with the front surface 88 of the carriage body sidewall 82.Several holes are formed in the body for different purposes.

A through hole 112 is formed in the elongated body proximate theproximal end 100 of the body. Preferably, the through hole 112 has anoblong, oval or like shape. The purpose of the through hole is discussedbelow. Four apertures 114 are formed in the body 104 to reduce theweight of the carriage arm. It is desired to reduce the weight to enablethe carriage assembly to accelerate faster for operating purposes. Anattaching opening 116 is provided proximate the distal end 102 of thecarriage arm. The attaching opening adapted to mechanically couple witha load beam.

The preferred method of making the interlocking carriage assembly willnow be discussed in conjunction with FIGS. 8 and 8A. Preferably theinterlocking carriage assembly is produced in a mold assembly 200. Themold assembly 200 comprises a cavity member 202, core member 204 andslide member 206 which are adapted to form a whole mold chamber 208having an inner flow surface 210. An injection assembly 212 is coupledwith the core member 204 and spaced from the inner flow surface 210.

Generally, the carriage arms 58 and 60, front bearing 54, and coil 56are placed within respective mold members and sealed therein. Amaterial, preferably, LCP plastic material is injected through theinjection assembly (not shown), and in turn, travels along the innerflow surface 210 to form the desired carriage assembly body 78 andinterlockingly couple the carriage arms, front bearing, and coil to thecarriage body as the material cools and hardens.

Specifically, the cavity member 202 comprises a part of the whole moldchamber having an upper carriage arm slot 214, and lower carriage armslot 216. The upper and lower carriage arm slots are adapted to receivecorresponding carriage arms in the relative position that the arms wouldbe in the final carriage assembly. The carriage arm slots are formed andpositioned within the cavity member such that the carriage arm proximalends 100 interlocking couple with the carriage body sidewall within thedesired tolerances. The carriage arm slots are spaced from a portion ofthe inner flow path that the plastic material flows to form a part ofthe carriage assembly.

The core member 204 defines another portion of the whole mold chamberand flow path. The core member 204 is designed to be coupled to aninjection nozzle (not shown) at the gate 220. Ejection pins 222 arecoupled to the core member to eject the finished carriage assembly fromthe mold. The core member 204 defines coil retaining members 224, apassage pin 226 and bearing stud 218. The coil retaining member 224,passage pin, and bearing stud are spaced from a portion of the innerflow path such that the material can flow to form the carriage assembly.

The coil retaining members 224 are formed and positioned within the coremember 204 such that the coil 56 is interlockingly coupled with the bodysidewall within the desired tolerances. The coil retaining members 224are also adapted to form the cavities for forming the in-riggers whenthe coil 56 is positioned with the coil retaining members.

The passage pin 226 is formed and positioned within the core member andadapted from the passage that the guide track slidingly mounts in. Thebearing stud 218 is adapted to receive the front bearing 54. The bearingstud 218 is formed and positioned such that the front bearing 54 isinterlockingly coupled proximate the front open end. Additionally, thepassage pin 226 cooperates with the front bearing stud 218 to form thecarriage assembly passage such that the front bearing is interlockingcoupled proximate the front open end when the plastic material isinjected into the mold chamber.

The slide block member 206 defines a portion of the whole cavity forforming the relatively triangular portion 228 of the carriage bodybottom surface 86 to which a flex circuit 74 is coupled to. The slideblock defines a portion of the inner flow path that the injectedmaterial fills to form the relatively triangular portion on the carriagebody.

Referring to FIG. 8A, the interlocking carriage assembly 52 is formed bypositioning each component in each respective location. The uppercarriage arm 58 and lower carriage arm 60 are positioned within eachcarriage arm slot. The front bearing is positioned on the bearing stud.The voice coil 56 is positioned in cooperation with the coil retainingmembers. The cavity member 202, core member 204, and slide block 206 aresealed together to form the whole mold. A material, preferably a plasticmaterial such as LCP, is injected through the gate which, in turn, flowsalong the inner flow path interlocking couple each respective componentwith the carriage body as the material hardens and cools.

The carriage arm through holes are in fluid communication with the innerflow path such that the material flows to the relative location of thefront open end to form the first open end.

One advantage of employing the mold assembly is that it ensures thateach component is interlockingly coupled with the carriage bodysubstantially within the desired tolerances. Another advantage is thatthe mold eliminates the need to individually attach each of thesecomponents to the carriage body.

Yet another advantage is that it eliminates the need for a sub-carriageto attach the voice coil to the carriage assembly.

The operation of the carriage assembly 52 will now be discussed inconjunction with FIG. 9. FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary disk drive 150with the cover removed, in which the carriage assembly 52 may beemployed. The disk drive 150 comprises a chassis 152 having u-shapedouter edges that form opposed guide rails 154a, 154b that guide aremovable disk cartridge (not shown) into the disk drive through opening156. In the present embodiment, the chassis is metallic. A thin metaltop cover (not shown) of the disk drive 150 has been removed so that theinternal components of the drive are visible.

A cartridge shutter lever 158 and an eject lever 160 are rotatablymounted on the chassis. Both levers 158 and 160 are shown in thepositions that they occupy when a disk cartridge is fully inserted intothe drive. During cartridge insertion, the shutter lever swings from aforward position to the position. During this movement, an abutmentsurface on the shutter lever 158 engages a shutter of the disk cartridgeand moves the shutter to the side, exposing a head access opening in thefront peripheral edge of the cartridge. The eject lever also moves froma forward position to the position shown when the cartridge is inserted.In this position, the eject lever is in a cocked position, under springtension. When it is desired to eject the disk cartridge from the drive150, an eject button 162 is pushed. Among other things, this causes theeject lever 160 to be released from its cocked position, so that itsprings forward to force the disk cartridge backwardly out of the diskdrive.

The disk drive 150 also has a linear actuator 164 disposed at the rearof the chassis 152. The linear actuator 164 comprises a magnetic motorin electrical communication with the coil 56 mounted on the carriageassembly 52 in accordance with the present invention. The outer magnetreturn path assembly 166, and two inner return paths 168a, 168b onopposite sides of the carriage assembly 52 are in sliding communicationwith the coil 56 and in-rigger 80. After a disk cartridge is insertedinto the disk drive 150, the carriage assembly 52 carries a pair ofread/write heads 66 over the recording surfaces of a disk-shaped storagemedium within the cartridge.

A spindle motor 174 is provided on the floor of the chassis 152. Duringcartridge insertion, the spindle motor 174 is translated vertically intoengagement with a hub of the disk cartridge, in order to rotate thedisk-shaped storage medium at a relatively high speed. A circuit board170 is attached to the chassis 152 via a plurality of standoffs (notshown). The circuit board 170 carries the drive circuitry. A gear trainmechanism 172 controls movement of the eject lever 160 and movement of ahead retract mechanism (not shown) that moves the carriage assembly 52to a parked position to prevent damage to the read/write heads 66, whenthe disk drive is not in use. The in-riggers 80 and 81 maintain thecarriage assembly 52 in the desired operating position as the carriageassembly 52 moves from the parked position to the operating position andvice versa by pressing or pushing on the inner return path 168a, therebypreventing the coil 56 from hitting the cover.

It is to be understood that even though numerous characteristics andadvantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoingdescription, together with details of the structure and function of theinvention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be madein detail, especially in matters of shape, size and arrangement of partswithin the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated bythe broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims areexpressed.

What is claimed is:
 1. A carriage assembly for carrying read/write headsinto engagement with a recording medium, said carriage assemblycomprising:a carriage body, said body defining a sidewall having a frontthat has a first opening and a back that has a second opening with apassage extending between the first opening and the second opening, saidpassage adapted to slidingly receive a cylindrical guide track, so thatthe carriage body can ride on the guide track; a first extensionextending from the sidewall and a second extension extending from thesidewall to define a space between the first extension and the secondextension; a carriage arm extending from the front of the sidewall, thecarriage arm being molded to the sidewall to couple the carriage arm tothe carriage body; a coil interlockingly coupled to the carriage body bybeing disposed in the space and molded to the first extension and thesecond extension to couple the coil to the carriage body.
 2. Thecarriage assembly in claim 1 wherein the carriage body is made of aplastic material.
 3. The carriage assembly in claim 1 furthercomprising:a first bearing molded to said sidewall proximate said firstopening in order to couple the first bearing to the carriage body and asecond bearing molded to said sidewall proximate said second opening inorder to couple the second bearing to the carriage body.
 4. The carriageassembly in claim 3 further comprising:the guide track slidably mountedwithin said passage in sliding cooperation with said bearings.
 5. Thecarriage assembly in claim 1 further comprising:at least one in-riggercoupled to the sidewall and extending laterally from the sidewall, theat least one in-rigger being positioned so that when the carriageassembly is mounted within a disk drive, the in-rigger will contact amagnet to prevent rotation of the carriage assembly.
 6. The carriageassembly in claim 5 wherein said in-rigger comprises molded plastic andis integrally formed with said sidewall and is mounted to said coil. 7.The carriage assembly in claim 6 wherein a portion of an inner surfaceof said coil is mounted to an outer surface of the in-rigger by beingmolded to the outer surface of the in-rigger and wherein the in-riggercomprises a protrusion that extends from an inner surface of thein-rigger, the inner surface of the in-rigger being for contacting themagnet when the carriage assembly is mounted in the disk drive.
 8. Thecarriage assembly in claim 1 wherein said carriage body furthercomprises a circuit amplifier and a flex circuit mounted to the carriageassembly for communication with a microprocessor when the carriageassembly is mounted within a disk drive.
 9. The carriage assembly ofclaim 1, further comprising a first in-rigger extending laterally fromthe sidewall and a second in-rigger extending laterally from thesidewall parallel to the first in-rigger, the first in-rigger and thesecond in-rigger each comprising an inner surface and an outer surfaceand a protrusion extending from each respective inner surface, theprotrusions being for contacting a magnet disposed between the first andthe second in-riggers when the carriage assembly is mounted within adisk drive to prevent rotation of the carriage assembly.
 10. Thecarriage assembly of claim 9, wherein the coil is molded to the outersurface of the first and the second in-riggers.
 11. A carriage assemblyfor carrying read/write heads into engagement with a recording medium,said carriage assembly comprising:a carriage body, said body having asidewall; a first extension extending from a front of the sidewall and asecond extension extending from a back of the sidewall to define a spacebetween the first extension and the second extension; a coilinterlockingly coupled with the carriage body by being disposed in thespace and molded to the first extension and the second extension tocouple the coil to the carriage body; and at least one carriage armextending from the front of the sidewall, the carriage arm being moldedto the sidewall to couple the carriage arm to the carriage body.
 12. Thecarriage assembly in claim 11, wherein said carriage body furthercomprises:a first opening disposed in the front of the sidewall, asecond opening disposed in the back of the sidewall and a passageextending between the first opening and the second opening, said passageadapted to slidingly receive a guide track.
 13. The carriage assembly inclaim 12 further comprising:a first bearing interlockingly coupledproximate said first opening by being molded to the sidewall within thefirst opening and a second bearing interlockingly coupled proximate saidsecond opening by being molded to the sidewall within the secondopening; and a guide track slidingly mounted within said passage insliding cooperation with said bearings.
 14. The carriage assembly inclaim 11 further comprising:at least one in-rigger coupled to thesidewall and extending laterally from the sidewall, the at least onein-rigger being positioned so that when the carriage assembly is mountedwithin a disk drive, the in-rigger will contact a magnet to preventrotation of the carriage assembly.
 15. The carriage assembly in claim 14wherein said in-rigger comprises molded plastic and is integrally formedwith said carriage body sidewall and is mounted to said coil.
 16. Thecarriage assembly in claim 14 wherein a portion of an inner surface ofsaid coil is mounted to an outer surface of the in-rigger by beingmolded to the outer surface of the in-rigger and wherein the in-riggercomprises a protrusion that extends from an inner surface of thein-rigger, the inner surface of the in-rigger being for contacting themagnet when the carriage assembly is mounted in the disk drive.
 17. Thecarriage assembly in claim 11 wherein said carriage body is made of aplastic material.
 18. A carriage assembly for carrying read/write headsinto engagement with a recording medium, said carriage assemblycomprising:a carriage body, said body having a front that has a cavity;a carriage arm having a proximal end that extends into the cavity andthat is mounted to the carriage body by the proximal end being molded tothe carriage body; and a first extension extending upward from the frontof the body and a second extension extending upward from a back of thebody to define a space between the first extension and the secondextension and a coil interlockingly coupled to the carriage body bybeing disposed in the space and molded to the first extension and thesecond extension to couple the coil to the carriage body.
 19. Thecarriage assembly in claim 11 wherein said carriage body is made of aplastic material.
 20. The carriage assembly in claim 18, wherein saidcarriage body further comprises a first opening, disposed in the frontof the body, and a second opening, disposed in the back of the body, anda passage extending between the first opening and the second opening,said passage adapted to slidingly receive a cylindrical guide track, sothat the carriage assembly can ride on the guide track.
 21. The carriageassembly in claim 20 further comprising a first bearing molded to saidbody proximate said first opening in order to couple the first bearingto the carriage body and a second bearing molded to said body proximatesaid second opening in order to couple the second bearing to thecarriage body anda guide track slidingly mounted within said passage insliding cooperation with said bearings.
 22. The carriage assembly inclaim 17 further comprising at least one in-rigger coupled to the bodyand extending laterally from the body, the at least one in-rigger beingpositioned so that when the carriage assembly is mounted within a diskdrive, the in-rigger will contact a magnet to prevent rotation of thecarriage assembly.
 23. The carriage assembly in claim 22 wherein saidin-rigger is integrally formed with said carriage body from moldedplastic and further comprises an outer surface and an inner surface, theinner surface having a protrusion extending therefrom to contact themagnet to prevent rotation of the carriage assembly.
 24. The carriageassembly in claim 23 wherein the coil has a relative outer surface andrelative inner surface, the inner surface of the coil being molded tothe outer surface of the in-rigger in order to couple the coil to thecarriage body.
 25. A carriage assembly for carrying read/write headsinto engagement with a recording medium, said carriage assemblycomprising:a carriage body comprising a front that has a first openingand a back that has a second opening with a passage extending betweenthe first opening and the second opening, said passage adapted toslidingly receive a cylindrical guide track, so that the carriageassembly can ride on the guide track; a first bearing molded to thecarriage body within the first opening in order to couple the firstbearing to the carriage body and a second bearing molded to the carriagebody within the second opening in order to couple the second bearing tothe carriage body, and a cavity disposed in the front of the carriagebody and at least one carriage arm having a proximal end that extendsinto the cavity and that is mounted to the carriage body by the proximalend being molded to the carriage body.
 26. The carriage assembly inclaim 25 further comprising:a first extension extending from the frontof the body and a second extension extending from the back of the bodyto define a space between the first extension and the second extension;and a coil interlockingly coupled with the carriage body by beingdisposed in the space and molded to the first extension and the secondextension to couple the coil to the carriage body.
 27. The carriageassembly in claim 26 further comprising an in-rigger coupled to the bodyand extending laterally from the body, the in-rigger being position sothat when the carriage assembly is mounted within a disk drive thein-rigger will contact a magnet to prevent rotation of the carriageassembly.